MAPA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

School of Industrial Engineering & Engineering Management

U1st Business Solutions

Client: Barclaycard Credit Company

Submitted by:

Castor, Ellainne P.
Go, Kenneth P.
Taclob, Zyron

As partial fulfilment of the requirements of

SVM171
Business Process Outsourcing
4th Quarter SY 2015 2016

COMPANY PROFILE
U1st Business Solutions (U1st) is a Philippine based BPO service provider, which was
conceptualized by a group of experts in the contact center and outsourcing industry. U1st aims to
help clients maximize their business potential and competitive performance edge, through
implementation of industries best practices, innovative technologies and processes, analytics and
people.
CLIENT
Barclaycard is one of the clients of U1st Business Solutions (U1st). They have
outsourced their credit card application, usage of it, maintenance, and selling thru the U1st
Business Solutions.
Barclaycard, part of Barclays Retail and Business Banking, is a global payment business.
The Barclaycard was the first credit card introduced in the United Kingdom, coming into service
in 1966. It enjoyed a monopoly until the introduction of the Access card in 1972. The
'Barclaycard' was not the first payment card to be issued in the United Kingdom though, Diners
Club and American Express launched their charge cards in 1962 and 1963 respectively. At the
time American Express was seen as Barclaycard's main competitor.
Barclaycard later became part of the Visa network but now offer MasterCard, Visa and
American Express versions. Barclaycard claims it is Europe's leading issuer of credit cards with
10.4 million customers in the UK and 10.8 million outside the United Kingdom. Barclaycard's
main offices are in Northampton, along with several floors at Barclays' corporate headquarters,
One Churchill Place in Canary Wharf, London.
Reasons for Outsourcing the Process
-

To lower the operational and labor costs. When properly executed, it has defining impact on

companys revenue recognition and can deliver significant savings.

To save costs and provide a buffer capital fund to companies that could be leveraged in a

manner that best profits the company.

To help them expand and gain access to new market areas.

SCOPE OF WORK

U1st Business Solutions basically helps Barclaycard in processing the credit card
application of their customers, the usage and maintenance of it, and the selling procedures.
SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENT
In terms of inbound calls, the accepted abandonment rate of call is 2%. This rate is the
percentage of callers who hang up before reaching an agent. As to the attendance policy, the
number of allowable days for the employees to be absent is 2 days per month. And in terms of
target sales percentage, the passing rate is 70%.
KEY PERFORMANCE INDEX
Considering only the outbound calls
NO
.

METRIC

First call resolution

Average time in
queue

Average after call

work time

Service level

Agent turnover rate

Average speed of
answer

DEFINITION
The percentage of calls
that the agent resolves
the callers issue without
having to escalate,
transfer or return the
call.
The average amount of
time callers wait in call
queues before an agent
responds.
The average amount of
time an agent spends
completing work related
to the call after they
finish the call.
The percentage of calls
answered within a
specified number of
seconds.
The percentage of agents
who leave the call
center.
The average amount of
time it takes for the call
to be answered by an

TARGET

ACTUAL
(First Quarter
of 2016)

95%

80%

1 minute

2 minutes

2 minutes

2 to 3 minutes

95% within 5
seconds

90% within 1o
seconds

Less than 10%

0%

Average handle time

Schedule adherence

agent.
The average amount of
time an agent spends
speaking with the caller
including hold time.
A measure of an agents
degree of compliance
with their assigned
schedule.

10 minutes

15 minutes

100%

95%

CURRENT SITUATION
The following table shows the number of people in each of the position type in U1st
Business Solutions that the interviewee handles.
POSITION TYPE
Back Office Employees
Team Leader
Agents

#
45
3
60

The following table shows the monetary and non-monetary benefits of the employees of
U1st Business Solutions.
EMPLOYEE BENEFITS
MONETARY
1. Higher basic salary
Entry Level Employee
Without experience: Php15,000
With experience: Php20,000 to Php25,000
Night Shift Differential
15% to 20% of the basic salary to be
multiplied by the number of working hours
during night shift

NON-MONETARY
1. HMO Card
Credit Limit
Agent: Php150,000 per sickness
Team Leader: Php250,000 to Php350,000
Operations Manager: Php400,000
Dependent
(2 dependents are included, and additional
payment for supplementary dependents)
Single: Parents
Single Parent: Either of the parent and kid
Married: Spouse and kid
2. Non-taxable gift certificates

2. Non-taxable dollar commission for

telemarketer
3. Added bonus for the team that hits the
3. Seminars and workshop for career
quota and for every agent with complete
development (Quarterly)
attendance
4. Extra allocated budget for each team.
4. Insurance (including death benefit)
Every team member will receive Php500
per month. (The team leader will be the one

to decide how this budget will be given

away to each of the team members.)
5. Separation pay for employees (3 years of
working)
6. Incentives/bonus for employees with
perfect attendance
7. Added bonus for Employee of the Month

5. Sick Leave (with pay)

6. Vacation Leave (with pay)
7. Paternity/Maternity Leave
8. Recognition plaque for employees with
good performance

OUTSOURCING PROCESS
(A) Inbound Calls
Customer calls

YES

Is there anything else for transaction

related services?

Customer
inquires

NO

Performs the
transaction

Is it for transaction or just forTRANSACTION

assistance?
Collects information

ASSISTANCE
Identifies
problem

Resolves problem

Is there anything else for assistance

related services?

NO

YES

Ends call

(B) Outbound Calls

SWIM LANES

CUSTOMER

TITLE

Customer calls

Ends call

NO
Is there anything else for transaction
related services?

SUBJECT MATTER SPECIALIST

Answers call

YES

Is it for transaction or just for

TRANSACTION
assistance?
Collects information

ASSISTANCE

Identifies problem
YES
Is there anything else for assistance
related services?

Asks 2nd Level Customer Service

Support

YES

TEAM LEADER

NO

Resolves problem

Is the problem resolved?

NO

Handles problem

Unsure?

YES

OMBUDSMAN OFFICE (HEAD

OF THEOFFICE) UNITED KINGDOM

Performs the transaction

NO

Resolves problem

Tells customer

Asks 3rd Level

Customer Service
Support

Handles problem

Unsure?

YES

Handles problem

NO

Resolves problem

Tells customer

Asks 4th Level

Customer Service
Support

Resolves problem

Tells customer

CRITICAL SITUATION
(1) Situation: Fraudulent activities
Situation in the company:
Impact to the company:
(2) Situation: Poor first-call resolution rates
Situation in the company: First-call resolution is regarded as one of the most important
factors in achieving customer satisfaction in BPO industry. And as todays customers of the
company tend to ring with increasingly complex queries, the company agents could not
provide an immediate answer to customers.
Impact to the company: If callers end up having to speak to several agents regarding a
single inquiry, the customer experience becomes weakened and satisfaction levels fall.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION